- 3-minute read
- 17th December 2019
Writing Tips: Synonyms for Good and Bad
The words “good” and “bad” express how we feel about something. However, they’re also overused, which means they can lack impact.
To make your writing more powerful, then, you might want to use some of the synonyms for “good” and “bad” from below.
Synonyms for “Good”
“Good” has many uses as a noun and an adjective. Here, we’ll focus on the adjectival uses, where its basic meaning is “desirable” or “of a high standard.”
Note, though, that the best alternative will depend on what you’re trying to say. Here’s a list of some common uses of “good” and suitable synonyms:
Definition | Example | Synonyms |
Acceptable in quality or degree | We have a good sense of how to proceed. | adequate, fair, satisfactory, sufficient |
High quality or desirable | Ghostbusters is a good film. | brilliant, excellent, great, outstanding, superb |
Useful or beneficial | Regular exercise is good for your health. | advantageous, helpful, positive, valuable |
Morally good or agreeable | A good person helps those in need. | admirable, decent, respectable, virtuous |
Skilled or capable | He is a very good singer. | accomplished, proficient, skillful, talented |
Pleasant or pleasing | That flower smells good. | delightful, enjoyable, nice, pleasurable, satisfying |
The best way to pick a “good” (i.e., acceptable) synonym is to know what you’re trying to say. This will often lead you to a more descriptive alternative.
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Synonyms for “Bad”
We say something is “bad” to express a negative opinion. It is, therefore, the opposite of good in every sense. Here are several alternative terms:
Definition | Example | Synonyms |
Low quality or faulty | A bad diet can cause health issues. | deficient, inadequate, mediocre, poor |
Of a very low quality | Bathing in a tub of scorpions was a bad idea. | awful, dreadful, terrible, unacceptable |
Harmful or negative | Smoking is bad for you. | damaging, detrimental, injurious, unhealthy |
Immoral or disagreeable | Bad behavior will be punished. | evil, reprehensible, unpleasant, wrong |
Unpleasant or unwelcome | We saw the bad news on television. | abhorrent, disagreeable, troublesome, undesirable |
There are other uses of “bad” not described here, such as describing an injured body part (e.g., a “bad back”) or rotten food (e.g., “bad meat”). As with “good,” this makes it important to check the definition of synonyms for “bad.”
“Good” and “Bad” in Academic Writing
It’s okay to use words like “good” and “bad” in academic writing, but they’re not usually enough by themselves. This is because they’re evaluative rather than descriptive. For example, if we were writing about management techniques, we might say, “Unpaid overtime is bad for staff morale.” That is an evaluation. But to demonstrate our understanding, we’d also need to explain why it’s bad and how we reached that conclusion.
The answer, then, is to remember that academic writing requires an explanation of our judgments. The same applies to these words in other forms of critical writing. Another option is to have your work proofread by the experts. As part of this service, we will highlight and suggest replacements for “weak” language like “good” and “bad” if it is misused. And this, in turn, will make sure that your writing makes more of an impact.
